25 Most Evil People of the 17th Century CE

Key Facts

Other names	Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu
Born	1585
Location	Paris, France
Bloodline	de Richelieu
Married	No
Children
Position	Chief Minister of King
Died	Dec 1642 (Aged 57)

Source of Facts and Important Announcement

Status	Under Article 64.6 of the Covenant of One-Heaven (Pactum De Singularis Caelum) by Special Qualification shall be known as a Saint, with all sins and evil acts they performed forgiven.
Date of formal Beatification	Day of Redemption UCA[E1:Y1:A1:S1:M9:D1] also known as Fri, 21 Dec 2012.
Source of Facts	Self Confession and Revelation of Sainthood by the Deceased Spirit as condition of their confirmation as a true Saint.

Background

Born the fourth of five children to professional soldier and courtier (later bishop) Jacques François du Plessis and Susanne de La Porte also of lesser nobility.

As reward for the loyalty and service of his father in serving Catholic King Henry III (1574-1589) against the Hugenots, the family was granted by royal approval the Bishopric of Luçon (department of Vendée) with Jacques François du Plessis now a Bishop as well as a soldier.

In 1590, when Richelieu was just five years old, his father was killed during the continued French Wars of Religion. His brother François du Plessis then became the next Bishop of Luçon (1590-1605).

In August 1589, King Henry III was assassinated by short robed Jesuit Jacques Clément, resulting in former Hugenot Henry de Bourbon becoming the new King (1589-1610). Because of the complicity of the Jesuits in the death of the King, the first expulsion of the order in history occurred from 1589 until their limited return in 1598.

In 1594 At the age of 9 Armand was sent to the College of Navarre in Paris to study philosophy ahead of a probable military career. Four years later, King Henry IV of France issued the famous Edict of Nantes in April 1598, effectively making France the first secular state in Europe, granting substantial rights to the Huguenot (Calvinist Protestants) of France.

The Edict enraged the Catholic clerical nobility such as the de Richelieu and several of the best and brightest were secretly recruited to be trained as Jesuits including Armand de Richelieu and his contemporaries Nicholas Caussin S.J. and Dennis Petau, S.J.

In 1605, his brother Bishop François du Plessis died and his other brother Alphonse-Louis du Plessis de Richelieu became the new Bishop of Luçon. In the same year Armand de Richelieu left Paris to attend the Jesuit College of English to finish his training and take his final Jesuit vows. However, Alphonse unexpectedly died in the same year leaving the family position of Bishop vacant.

The situation for the Jesuits at the time within France remained delicate, in spite of King Henry IV taking Jesuit Peter Coton S.J. as his confessor --mainly as an insurance policy against Jesuit assassination. Instead, Richelieu graduated and took the additional Fourth Vow of the Jesuit Oath--to become a short robed Jesuit (Jesuit in secret) and returned to Paris in 1607 to take up his family title as Bishop of of Luçon.

In 1614, Richelieu was elected to the States-General and a powerful advocate of the decrees of the Council of Trent throughout France--especially that the clergy should be exempt from taxes. However, his pleas were rejected by the Third Estate (commoners) until the States-General was finally dissolved in 1614 whereupon Richelieu entered the service of Marie de Médici--mother and regent of child King Louis XIII--as her confessor.

In 1616, Richelieu was appointed briefly Secretary of State including responsibility for foreign affairs. Less than a year later in 1617 Queen Marie de Médici was deposed and her chief minister Concino Concini murdered. Richelieu was subsequently dismissed from his post and banished from court to Avignon.

However in 1619 Queen Marie de Médici escaped from Château de Blois, leading a group of nobles against Charles de Luynes and her son Louis XIII. Richelieu was hastily recalled to court and was instrumental in brokering peace between the Queen and her son through the Treaty of Angoulême.

Following the poisoning of Charles de Luynes at Longueville (Guienne) in December 1621, the power and influence of Richelieu increased enormously--including being made a Cardinal by Pope Gregory XV in 1622.

In 1624, having falsified a plot by the then chief minister Charles, duc de La Vieuville--forcing his arrest and execution--Cardinal Richelieu was appointed chief minister to Louis XIII.

Several French nobles-- particular the powerful Hugenots protected by the Edit of Nantes--suspected Richelieu as a Roman double agent. To counter their claims, Cardinal Richelieu brilliantly employed the support of Swiss Protestants in defending French territory of Valtellina against Papal forces, gaining him Protestant support but Catholic suspicions.

In 1626, Richelieu ordered the abolition of the position of Constable of France and all fortified castles to be destroyed, excluding those few representing strategic defences on the borders of France. His argument to justify this historic action was to prevent further "rebellion" by the nobles. In one foul swoop, Richelieu succeeded in permanently weakening the nobility of France--something the Roman Cult had failed to achieve for four hundred years.

The Huguenot nobles refused to destroy several of their key fortified strongholds such as La Rochelle--granted as a sanctuary under the Edit of Nantes. In response, Cardinal Richelieu personally orchestrated the siege of La Rochelle. The defenders appealed to the Protestant Parliament of England and King Charles I of England was obliged to declare war on France and send supporting troops--which he did in the smallest possible number and commanded by the incompetent Duke of Buckingham. By 1628, the English force was completely destroyed and La Rochelle was captured.

The rebel forces of Huguenot Henri duc de Rohan continued to battle Cardinal Richelieu until 1629 when upon defeat they were forced to sign the Peace of Alais--effectively stripping the political rights and protections of Protestants first granted under the Edict of Nantes.

In 1630, Richelieu succeeded in having his former patron Queen Marie de Médici exiled for the last time--thus ending any possible threat to his power for the next 12 years until his death in 1642.

Richelieu is one of the most famous characters in history thanks to countless books, plays and movies in which he is depicted as the villain, most notably in The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.


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